Polygamist sect teen refuses baby's testing

March 2, 2009 3:07:31 PM PST

SAN ANTONIO, TX --

Texas child welfare authorities want a judge to order a 17-year-old mother from a polygamist sect to submit to a psychological evaluation after she showed up to an appointment for genetic testing with someone else's baby. She had previously refused to disclose the whereabouts of the infant born in June, when she was 16. It was shortly after she and the other 437 children taken from the Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado were returned to their parents from foster care.

In a court filing, Child Protective Services says the teen produced a baby purported to be her biological child for genetic testing in January. But tests revealed she is not the infant's biological mother.

State officials believe the girl was married to a man in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints when she was 14. In Texas, someone younger than 17 generally cannot consent to sex with an adult.

FLDS spokesman Willie Jessop says the girl previously said she feared the agency would try to take the infant.